Missy Maintains » Lunch

Week of Blog Meetups!

MissyMaintains — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:54:08 +0000

Last week was full of great blog meetups!! I got to reunite with Ellie from Inside I’m Still Dancing who was visiting all the way from Scotland. We met about a year ago at Sea Thai restaurant and have been tweeting with each other ever since! I also got to meet Yelena from One Healthy Apple! Yelena tweeted to me, “Are you the official NYC welcoming blogger tour?” I’d say so!

On Wednesday, I met Ellie, Mari, and Monique at Whole Foods!

Poor Ellie injured her foot and was wobbling around Whole Foods on crutches! She has the cutest Scottish accent by the way. I could listen to her talk forever! We told her she needs to start vlogging so we can listen to her all day!

I made a giant salad of course.

It contained beets, carrots, feta cheese, hummus, seaweed salad, string beens, roasted broccoli, asparagus, and brussels sprouts. I swear my salads are always $2 or $3 extra in the winter because of the giant roasted vegetables! Totally worth it though.

As we were eating, Mo let out a loud gasp out of nowhere! We saw 2 guys coming towards our table! She shrieked in excitement, “He’s from… So You Think You Can Dance!!!” We all stared and he totally knew we recognized him. We sat next to Alex Wong in Whole Foods!

source

I am a stalker and took a picture of his butt. He is the one on the left.

We wanted to go up to him and ask him to dance for us but I think that would have been a little creepy!! Instead, we just sat and enjoyed our nice view of his butt.

We also enjoyed some Baked by Melissa cupcakes courtesy of Mo!

I had a Tie-Dye!

And my favorite….Cinnamon!

I love them!! They are the perfect size!

After Whole Foods, we went to Starbucks and chatted for at least an hour with some decaf coffee. Ellie convinced us that we need to have a conference in Scotland so we can play in the castles! I am not a huge fan of blog conferences but I am totally up for going to one inside a castle! It was a great night!!

On Sunday, I had another blog meetup at Spring Street Natural. I met Yelena for the first time and got to see Gabriela from Une Vie Saine again! Mari and I took the subway to Yelena’s hotel and brought her to the restaurant.

Thank you to Gabriela for taking most of these pics. She got nominated to take the pictures since she has a fancy SLR camera!

We started off with delicious bread!

I don’t know if this was pumpkin or carrot bread….but it was amazing!

The 4 of us had a really hard time deciding what to order! The entire menu sounded great! Eventually I went with the Vegetable and Brown Rice platter with tofu, black beans, tahini, and seaweed.

I loved this! I need to start eating with chopsticks more often! I finally took my time eating since I suck at using them.

My lunch was good but Mari’s pumpkin ravioli was out of this world! I want to go back to the restaurant just to order the ravioli!! The service at the restaurant was not so great but that just gave us more time to chit-chat!

Mari and I tried to show Yelena around the Village after but the two of us have absolutely no sense of direction. We ended up walking for over an hour in Tribeca and ended up by the World Trade Center!

We definitely gave Yelena a nice walking tour of New York! It was great meeting her finally!

So…who is coming to New York next? I like visitors…hint hint!

Blogger lunch at Sea Thai and New York Giveaway!

MissyMaintains — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:55:32 +0000

Hello friends. Have you entered my Fit in 5: Total Body Tone DVD Giveaway yet? I assure you all 5 workouts are great! I started my day off yesterday with the 20 minute strength section. I’ve been too tired this week to wake up super early for the gym but there is no reason I can’t wake up 20 minutes early! After my mini-workout, I refueledwith some Kashi Warm Cinnamon Oat cereal and raisins.

This might be my favorite new cereal. I definitely had more than just one bowl! That is always the case with cereal though!

For lunch, I had my monthly date at Sea Thai with Marina! The lunch special always comes with a free appetizer so I got my usual tofu salad with peanut dressing.

I got the Black Bean Ginger dish with Shrimp for my main course.

I loved this dish! It had chunks of grilled pineapple, mushroom, scallions, and carrots. Delicious lunch for a decent price! We will be back next month I’m sure.

I went to a great intenSati class after work. I did not go at all last week but went both Monday and Tuesday this week. Guess I was going through intenSati withdrawal! I got home and “cooked” dinner. Okay…not really but frozen pizza is still better than going out to eat and spending a million dollars!

I made an Amy’s margarita pizza with some Blue Moon to drink! Nothing better than pizza and beer after an intense workout!

In other news, I have a little giveaway for my New York readers today. Remember the “Live the Life You Love” event I went to last week? The next event is on October 12th. I already gave one ticket away but found out that I can give a second ticket away for that night! The topics for the night will be:

Carolyn Kelly North:”Dump the Slumps! Ways to Boost Your Mood when ‘Dating Fatigue’ Sets In”
Galia Gichon:”The Single Gal’s Guide to Money”
Kathryn Kaycoff-Manos and Lauri de Brito:”Fertility 101: Essential Tips for the Single Woman”

If you are interested in attending this session, just let me know in the comments section below. I will choose a ticket winner tomorrow.

1. What is your favorite kind of cereal right now?
2. Do you prefer exercise DVDs at home or working out in a gym?

1. My favorite cereal right now is the Kashi cereal above! I also love Puffins but can’t keep them in the house! The box disappears way too fast!
2. I prefer working out in the gym because I like having a teacher there to push me and correct my form. I slack off sometimes when I am exercising at home or I just quit early. Luckily the 20 minute workouts from the Fit in 5:Total Body Tone DVD are perfect since there is not much time to quit early!

Thrifty Thursday and Fall Foods

MissyMaintains — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:19:39 +0000

Happy Thursday! I am all energetic right now since I started my morning off with Core Fusion Cardio! I did it in the comfort of my own home courtesy of YogaVibes.com! It was just like being in class except I got to wear less and blast my own music! I seriously never sweat so much from any other exercise DVD at home! My neighbors below me probably hate me after all of the mountain climbers but they will have to get used to it! By the way, you can download a free class on YogaVibes by using the code, FBFREE. You must all try this class! Speaking of free, it is Thrifty Thursday! I will post some free samples and then talk about food!

Free “A Little Bit of Philly” tote bag
Free Saladworks T-shirt
Free sample of O.N.E. organic all-in-one skin care
Free Ready-to-Shine Gift Pack with Pledge wipes (1st 3000 entries)
Equinox gym is free tonight for everyone! You can try intensati at the Union Square location!

Enjoy your freebies! I think my food from yesterday is worth sharing too so let’s move onto breakfast! I am still on a little oatmeal kick. It is cheap and fills me up all morning!

This bowl contained 1/4c plain oats, 1/2 of a banana, Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter, and Navitas Naturals Camu Power. Did you know Camu Camu fruit has more natural Vitamin C than any other food source on the planet? It gave my oatmeal a slight citrus flavor. Pretty good!

For lunch, I picked up a quick sandwich from the health food store in the morning since I knew I would be spending the entire lunch hour getting my hair cut.

Hello hummus!

I snacked on some popchips later in the afternoon!

After work, I tried a class at Equinox called Rockin Models! I am going to save the review for next week since the instructor gave me her Rockin Models DVD to review as well! Let’s just say my legs are very sore today!

I made an easy dinner when I got home thanks to my good old microwave! I heated up some frozen veggies and a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger. I crumbled the burger up over a big salad! I added some Riceworks chips on the side for something to munch on. Gotta love my 5-minute meals!

I had a Musselman’s Totally Fruit Mixed Berry applesauce for something sweet after dinner. I like to add chocolate to everything.

Musselman’s hooked me up with 2 new flavors of applesauce to try a few days ago. I also got a cute tote and calendar!

I got to try Healthy Picks Granny Smith and Totally Fruit Mixed Berry!

Disclaimer: Musselman’s provided me with the applesauce at no cost to review.

Official Description:

Our Healthy Picks apple sauce line is designed specifically for women with active, healthy lifestyles, while Totally Fruit offers a scrumptiously sweet taste without any high fructose corn syrup (naturally sweetened with fruit juice). Whether you’re just getting back from the gym or simply in need of an afternoon snack, treat yourself to a quick snack that won’t leave you feeling guilty. These new flavors are packed with essential nutrients and they taste great.

Both flavors of applesauce were delicious and contain just 70 calories. I always need something sweet after dinner so I’ve been enjoying these almost every night for dessert! They also make a good pre-workout snack.

Since I am all about deals and samples today, here is a coupon if you would like to try either flavor of applesauce. I suggest trying it with some chocolate chips added in! Perfect fall treat!

Disclaimer: Musselman’s provided me with the applesauce samples at no cost. I was not paid to review this product.

What is your favorite fall dessert?
How do you use applesauce? Do you cook with it, eat it plain, add chocolate??

I am choosing the winner of the Body by Bethenny DVD tomorrow! Bye for now!

I Can Cook but Just Don’t Want To!

MissyMaintains — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:10:50 +0000

Yesterday I was sitting at work thinking about how I would love to cook up a delicious dinner and post about it today! I have not cooked in ages and thought you guys would be so proud of me. I was thinking about all of the dinners I used to make:

Mexican Salads

Whole Wheat Pasta with Veggies

Homemade Pizza

Panko Breaded Chicken

Spiralized Zucchini Pasta

I guess I am pretty capable of cooking decent dinners! So…what happened between now and then? Laziness! Sometimes it just seems worth the extra couple of dollars to pick up dinner from somewhere else! I also find it hard to grocery shop and buy all of the ingredients because who knows what I will be in the mood for that particular night. Sometimes I end up spending more when I grocery shop because I don’t use half of the veggies I bought. I know the solution to this is to meal plan but I just don’t want to do that. Sometimes I get home from work and feel like going out to happy hour! I don’t want the stress of knowing I was supposed to cook that night! I’m sorry but I’m not sorry.

Instead of cooking my fancy meal last night, I got home and had Cheerios.

It was the best lazy dinner ever. I got home from the gym at 8:30 so the last thing I felt like doing was cooking! I also was not very hungry because I had a big lunch.

I got a turkey wrap from the Westside Market that ended up being big enough for 2 people. I ate the whole thing anyway just because it was good! I was secretly happy when they messed up and used mayo instead of mustard. I never use mayo for obvious reasons but I do love it every now and then! I was stuffed after my wrap but the Westside Market is across the street from The Lite Choice so I was forced to stare at the store while I was eating. I could not resist!

Sometimes I feel guilty for having TLC after lunch even when I am already stuffed. Then I realize it is only 80 calories which is less than a glass of wine! Bring on the soft serve!

The only meal I really “cooked” this week was breakfast!

And it was heavenly! I cooked 1/2 cup oats with a white nectarine and Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter. See…I am a good cook!

One more reason I cook less than last year- there is a Whole Foods next door to both gyms I take intenSati at! It is very hard to leave Equinox, look at Whole Foods, hear my belly grumble after an intense workout, and not walk in! This occurs 3 nights a week. I made a promise to myself I would only walk in there once a week to save the dough. I gave in on Monday. I made a giant salad and attempted to bring it home on the subway. I probably ate 1/4 of it while wandering Whole Foods but still ended up with this:

I bought some delicious new salad dressing while shopping around WF:

Nice, short ingredient list and only 14 calories!

I totally brought my salad home instead of eating it all at Whole Foods just so I could enjoy a glass of wine (or two) with dinner!

Much more enjoyable on a plate instead of in a cardboard box! The new salad dressing and wine helped too. I feel like it is worth the $8.00 to get to choose from 50 salad bar ingredients and create an awesome dinner in 5 minutes or less. Maybe once it gets colder out I will start to cook more but for now, I will enjoy my take-out and prepared food!

Do you tend to cook more when it is colder outside?

Do you prefer to spend a few more dollars for convenience or do you enjoy taking the time to cook?

Don’t forget to enter my Live the Live You Love Ticket Giveaway!

Bollywood Boogie Winner and Exciting Monday Announcement!

MissyMaintains — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:12:52 +0000

Happy Friday! It is time to announce the winner of the Bollywood Boogie Workout DVD!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random integers, generated with replacement:

Timestamp: 2010-08-20 14:12:03 UTC

3- Erin from A Girl and Her Mutt! Congrats Erin! Please send me an email with your address and I will ship out your DVD!

Week in Review

Let’s start with some food talk. I am happy to say that I brought both breakfast and lunch every day this week! I only ate dinner at home once but a girl’s gotta start somewhere right? It’s been months since I’ve had oatmeal at work but it really is the most affordable breakfast. I forgot how much I missed it!

I added banana, Navita’s Naturals Trail Mix, and Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. Thank you to Amie for sending me so many packets of this stuff! Amazing!

For lunch I brought turkey sandwiches, veggie burger wraps, and tuna in a pita! I also always brought some popchips to munch on.

Dinner included a wonderful Whole Foods salad:

Of course I went to Friday’s one night for cheap drinks! I got a usual salad for dinner so that I could enjoy this:

That thing is an entire day’s worth of calories but sometimes a dessert like that is just necessary. I had about half of it and enjoyed every single bite. I don’t know how people can eat one bite of a real dessert and feel satisfied. If something is good, I’m not stopping after one taste! Props to anyone who can have a warm, soft cookie topped with ice cream, Oreo’s, hot fudge, and whipped cream and feel satisfied after a spoonful! That’s just not me. You only live once!

As far as exericse goes, I went to intenSati Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and today! I took a nice rest day on Wednesday since I hadn’t taken one in about 10 days! I told you I love Equinox. Today’s class was amazing. Patricia (the creator) is due to have her baby in 2 weeks and was there at 6:30 am to sub for Natalia! She was still able to do so many of the dance movements!! Love it!

Monday Announcement!

In other news, I have a really exciting Monday coming up! In the morning I am going to be filmed doing intenSati! Natalia (the teacher I mentioned above) is a Lululemon Ambassador and will be the star of their promotional musical! They will be filming her teaching intenSati so I get to be one of 10 people in the background! I also get this free Lululemon tank out of it!

After that I will be heading to Philly for the Phillies game! My mom got invited to do Zumba with the Philly Phanatic at the game that night!! My mom got to choose a few Zumba instructors to dance with her. I am going to learn the routine and dance too! Scary but exciting! I just want to meet Chase Utley and Cole Hamel (maybe sneak them kisses too). I will try to get some nice pictures and video!

1) Can you eat one bite of a dessert and feel satisfied?
2) What baseball player would you love to kiss?

Have a nice weekend!